I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail asking where we are with the insurance company, following our burglary to our motorhome. As regular blog readers know, at first we were having a real hassle with our insurance company, National Interstate, and when we called our agent, PoliSeek, they told me they didn’t get involved in problems like that and referred me back to the same claims adjuster at National Interstate who was giving us all the problems.

After I wrote about the problem in the blog and it became a topic of discussion on several RV internet forums, most notably the Escapees, people started calling their agents and National Interstate asking if they could expect the same lack of service if they had a claim.

Cheryl Howarth from Miller Insurance in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and another agent from South Dakota, both of whom have a lot of RV owners as customers, took it upon themselves to contact National Interstate on our behalf. The response from the company was immediate, and within an hour or so the same claims adjuster who had been giving us grief was on the telephone bending over backwards to accommodate our every need. As we also have a van we now know to insure that in case of the same situation happening, Money Expert have been recommended for van insurance but there are plenty of others out there depending on where you live.

We now have been reimbursed for all of the items that were stolen or vandalized, except for one small check that we should receive this week, and as I understand it, the shop in Indiana that did our repairs has also been paid, except for two sets of day/night shades that we are still waiting on the factory to send to us.

Fourteen days after our burglary, a representative from PoliSeek called in response to the internet uproar that had resulted, and the next day her supervisor called. They wanted to know what they could do to help, and I told them that they were too late, other agents had handled the problem for us. The supervisor told me that it really wasn’t their job to deal with the insurance company for us. In other words, they’ll take our money, but they don’t want to get involved if we have a problem. So why have an agent in the first place?

As soon as life gets back to normal after the holidays, we will be talking to Cheryl at Miller Insurance about placing all of our business with her. From all of the good feedback I have gotten from customers of Progressive, I think that’s who we’ll end up with, if Cheryl represents them. She has earned our business, and I’d much rather she makes a commission on our insurance policies. PoliSeek has seen the last penny they’ll ever get from me. If you are looking for RV insurance, or are thinking about moving your business, I’d readily recommend Cheryl. I’d recommend the agent in South Dakota as well, but I never did get her full name or the name of the agency she works for.

11 Responses to “Final Insurance Update”

Excellent editorial. Although, I do not deal with the Miller Insurance Agency, when the time comes to renew, I will definitely give them a call as a result of your blog. When you experience service “above and beyond the call of duty” from someone who isn’t even your agent, that’s good enough for my business!

Thank you for standing up to what is right and informing the rest of us about the business practices of others. I believe in doing business with a company that is honest and stands behind it’s product and services. Enough of this run around that we so often get. These companies that think that they can get away with treating their customers like this should lose their business. Thank you Nick for sharing your experience with us.

We have had Progressive Insurance through Miller Insurance for several years. They are good people and very helpful. I love their phone greeting when you call their office! Progressive has very competitive rates and their claims process is the best that I have ever experienced. I think you will be very happy with them.

Our agent is Miller Insurance, we do not have Progressive though. We have never had a claim to date and hope that it stays that way. We really like the service that we got from Miller and their rates are better than anywhere else for he same company and coverage.

So glad that you’re finally have gotten things taken care of… What a shame that you had to go through all the crap to get it. Thanks for letting me know about damp rid… We went out to get some and hopefully it will help with our problem… It is like Niagara Falls in here… LOL LOL Our MH is use to Florida weather… Have a very Happy New Year & Travel Safe!!!
Donna

Hi Nick,
I was the other agent from South Dakota that got involved in your claim. I am truly sorry that you had such trouble. I have been an agent with National Interstate for 12 years and have always found them to have good claims service. When my client Jil, told me about your blog and the story of your claim, I just had to step in and make some calls. As far a I am concerned this IS what you have an agent for. I am glad that you are moving your business to an agent who will take care of you. If you know of anyone who is domiciled in South Dakota (or is looking to) and would like an agent to watch out for them, have them give me a call! Not sure what your rules are about posting my phone number so I will just leave the name of my agency and you will be able to find me on the web. Happy Travels!
Gina Shaver
Epic Insurance, Sioux Falls SD

Gina,
I appreciate your help very much. For anyone interested, Gina’s office phone number is 605-271-8100 and her company website is http://www.epic-ins.com/. She is another agent whom I highly recommend.
Nick

Nick, thanks for the posts on the insurance debacle. We are currently looking for insurance for a new MH and wanted to do business with Miller, but they are not licensed to do business in Virginia (our current state of domicile). We met Cheryl
at Nick’s Ohio Rally and would not hesitate to do business with her agency. Hopefully when we begin fulltiming (again, I say hopefully) we will domiciled in a state in which Miller can do business with us.